Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
“They’d turn against you,” Tamsin said.
“Wouldn’t you with everything that’s happening?”
“Is that why you want me to talk to my brothers now? When war starts, there won’t be any time?” Tamsin asked.
Mason got to his feet. “I need to take a walk.”
She didn’t argue and he didn’t wait for her to argue with him. Tamsin watched him go, walking in the opposite direction of the house.
Tamsin looked down at the lemonade that he hadn’t drank, and then she got to her feet. Never in all the time she had known Mason had he ever behaved like that. He looked completely lost, and she hated it.
Without thinking about her next course of action, she walked back into the house, going straight to Mason’s office, where she could have privacy and the telephone. It didn’t take her long to find the Dentons’ numbers, especially Jacob’s, so she typed it in and waited.
Jacob answered on the fourth ring.
“I’m going to start thinking you like me with all these phone calls and visits.”
Tamsin froze. She knew it was her brother and she had nothing to fear but that didn’t stop her from feeling … anxious.
“Hello, Mason? What is this?”
After another second, she finally found her voice. “It’s not Mason. It’s me,” she said.
“Tamsin?”
“Yes, hello.”
“Uh, how are you?”
“I’m fine. I’m fine. Actually, there is something I wanted to talk to you about. Something really important.”
She heard some rustling and could only assume Jacob had sat down, but she couldn’t be sure.
“Talk to me, Tamsin. What is it you need?”
“Are you aware of the threat of the Delcoties due to the actions of Paul Savonas?” She didn’t even know if she was breaking Mason’s trust by talking to her brother. Mason wasn’t going to tell her the truth of the threat or what it meant.
“I’m aware that something has happened, and right now it’s up to Mason to fix it,” Jacob said.
“Okay, so what if I said the threat of war between the Savonases and the Delcoties was … guaranteed.” She couldn’t help but wince at her lack of tact or being able to cover this up.
“I would say that is not a good idea,” Jacob said.
“Why?”
“Well, if what you say is true and Paul has done something to Albert, then regardless of the Dentons’ connection to the Savonases, we also have arrangements with the Delcoties. As of right now, we would have to side with them.”
“You’d do that to me.”
“Tamsin, if this is going to happen, then I beg you, come home. Come back to us, because if war is imminent, then you’re not going to make it. Mason is not going to make it. If the Delcoties go to war, there will be no Savonases left, and you’re a Denton. I will be able to protect you.”
“Thank you,” Tamsin said.
“Tamsin, what is going on? Are you in danger? What do you need me to do?” he asked.
“I need you to be my big brother and to understand that I’m not a Denton. I’m a Savonas, and Mason is my husband.” She was tempted to tell her brother that she loved Mason, but instead, she said her goodbyes. Jacob tried to stop her from hanging up, and even as she put the phone in the cradle, she heard him screaming her name, which she ignored.
Staring straight ahead, she realized she couldn’t do it. Two years ago, she would have seen this as the perfect opportunity to leave. To deal with the Savonases once and for all, but she couldn’t do that to Mason, nor to Connor or Reese. They had become her family.
There was no way she was going to allow them to die, when she had the perfect way of solving their problems.
Picking up the telephone, she felt sick to her stomach with what she was about to do, but she allowed her feelings for Mason to take over. They were the ones in control, nothing else.
She was doing this for Mason. All of it was for Mason.
Paul Savonas answered on the second ring.
“Hello, son,” Paul said. “What could I possibly do for you?”
Everything within Tamsin was screaming at her to slam the phone down. That she couldn’t do this. There was no way she could put herself at risk with this man. Mason’s smiling face flashed through her mind. The feel of his arms wrapped around her.
“It’s not Mason,” she said. “It’s me, Tamsin.”
There was a purr to Paul’s voice as he spoke next. “Well, Tamsin, to what do I owe this pleasure?”
She couldn’t help but shudder. Did he think that was attractive? It was sick and disgusting. She hated this man with a passion, so she tried not to throw up in her mouth.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said, and you’re right. It is time we meet.”
“Name the time and place.”
****
It had been a long time since Mason took a nice, long walk around his grandfather’s property, or more to the point, his own property. Not a lot had changed in the last few years, especially not in the gardens. One of the instructions he’d given to David was to maintain the gardens as if Grandfather was still living, and he had done exactly that.